Rock pops. Rockaway Locals…You Tell Us! Get Your Voice Heard!

Typography

Share This

In our new feature, reporter, Kami-Leigh Agard scours the streets to get your opinion on current issues facing the peninsula. Your Voice…Your Community…Your Platform.

This week’s topic: Mayor Bill de Blasio boasts historic drop in crime in 2016, but do you feel safer?

Ruth Thompson

Postal Worker serving Rockaway

“I have been serving the Rockaways for over 18 years. In years back while on the beat, I witnessed a few shootings. However, it has not been as bad as when I first started working out here. It’s different in different areas, from Mott Avenue, to Rockaway Park and Rockaway Beach. I see a little more crime in Rockaway Beach, mostly in the project areas. But now over the last two years, there’s a lot of building up and a lot of people have moved out. It’s getting a little calmer in the area. So I believe these recent statistics. In 2017, I am looking forward to seeing the crime rate keep going down. So yes, I believe the mayor!”

Rado Rafiringa

Systems Engineer and Surfer

Rockaway Beach

“Yes, generally I feel safer because I have not encountered any criminal activities in the neighborhood since 2015. 2016 was pretty quiet. The city has installed big floodlights in the projects. So since then, the projects have been relatively quiet. No bang, bang. As far as who gets the credit, I would not pit the mayor against the NYPD because without the mayor’s directive, the NYPD cannot do what the hell they want. They have to work hand-in-hand in order to make it happen. The police are the ones getting their hands dirty. Whatever vision the city has set, whether it’s the mayor’s vision or the people’s vision through the mayor, the police make it happen. They are part of the same team. Congrats to them all.”

Nathan Smith

Surfer

Rockaway Park

“No, I don’t believe Mayor de Blasio. No! He is a notorious liar. Everything that comes out of his mouth…I just don’t trust him. He’s been proven in the past to say things that aren’t necessarily true. To believe him now is just to go back on our principles. The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over, and to expect different results. So I am not insane. The things he has said in the past have not come true. So why should what he says now be considered trustworthy. My opinion, no, I don’t feel any safer. But then again I feel safe at all times. It’s a conscious personal decision.”

John Onorato

“Contented guy”

Belle Harbor

“This drop in crime, it’s so low, it really does not make it that relevant. I didn’t feel unsafe in 2015, and I don’t feel unsafe now. I believe the statistics, but the number isn’t that high. It’s nothing that I am going to go crazy about. I think the NYPD is doing the best job they can. The mayor…I don’t know, not really a fan.”

Cathryn Brown

Speech Pathology Student

Rockaway Beach

“I am surprised at these statistics. I definitely wasn’t expecting that, considering how de Blasio has worked with the NYPD in the past. Do I feel safer in Rockaway? Well, I always have felt pretty safe. Nothing to get excited about with this news. I am fine in Rockaway. The only change I have seen is the new hipster contingent encroaching.”